The Secret of Medical Transcription Jobs-How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist

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The demand for online medical transcription jobs witnessed an increase in the year 2018. Ever since its introduction, a lot of people who love to make some quick money have continually searched for new means by which they can become a medical transcriptionist offline or online.

The rise in demand for medical transcriptions tasks is caused by a number of factors. I know that getting paid as high as $30 per hour seems appealing but before you rush to take a medical transcription job from home, it is better to understand the demand of the job, ethics, trends and facts, pros and cons perspectives.

With your knowledge of all of this, choosing the most suitable online medical transcription job would not be a big deal to you.

Who are med transcriptionists? -Understanding what medical transcription is

Medical transcriptions go a long way back (nearly a century) as they are not new but online med transcriptions are pretty new (a development that arrived with the internet). The early medical practitioners give to their staff (secretaries, nurses, paramedics and others) verbal instructions. These people would take down necessary notes.

The information they take down usually involve instructions, observations made by the physician, list of pills and drugs to be administered and other relevant health data would be stored in a file. The learned data from these files will then be converted into a single, readable and relevant document which will later be called “medical transcription”.

History of online medical transcriptions

As a new age dawns on healthcare services, causing a sudden increase over the past few years, the maintenance of several thousands of medical files became a pain in the but for hospitals. The invention of the computer, mobile phones, tablet and most especially the Internet helped solved this problem.

Once online medical transcriptionists were introduced, it allowed bulky medical data to be stored online or on other digital formats. Want to know the best part? This info can be accessed worldwide.

Another effect of the internet on the medical world is the digitalization of medical files. Countless hospitals began to depend upon online medical transcriptionist and freelancers to digitalize files a lot quicker in a more effective way. This led to the birth of a new industry that today employs an estimated two million people worldwide.

Importance of medical transcriptions

Hospitals, medical experts, medical insurance firms, healthcare providers, Emergency Medical Services and attorneys have continued to rely on medical transcriptions to save time and to achieve faster delivery of results.

The role of a medical transcriptionist has different purposes. They provide hospitals, private and public medical practitioners and clinics the option to step up their level of service. To avoid fraud, overcharging and scams, medical insurance providers use the services of a transcriptionist.

Facts and figures

In the year 2019, the stats of the global medical transcription market was estimated to be at US $ 61 million. Unofficial statistics claim the numbers are even higher, at an estimate of US$ 100 million by 2020. In 2012, the market gamed a figure of US$ 41 million.

The trendy demand for medical transcriptions all over the world showed a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 5.6 percent over the past few years, it is expected to rise marginally by 2019, according to a deep study carried out by US-based Transparency Market Research.

Current scenarios

The latest minimum wage requirements, the recent spur in unavailability of skilled staff and adequate office space in places such as Europe and North America has paved way to the increased number of healthcare providers outsourcing their medical transcriptions. Primarily, the process of outsourcing can be done in two ways:

Small clinics and medical practitioners hiring a good number of online medical transcriptionists who can work from home.

Major healthcare providers, small and larger hospitals outsourcing medical transcriptions online from a wide range of service providers who are specialized in their fields.

Two countries (India and Philippines) are current leaders in the use of online medical transcriptions, with a lot of specialized individuals and corporate bodies offering theirs service to different clients in tier 1 country such as Europe and US. Over time, Philippines and the Indians have built an online reputation for their exceptional quality delivery of standard online medical transcriptions in English.

However, the hot search for transcriptions in other languages such as Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia, Spanish and Arabic continues to rise, there is need to provide more online medical transcription services in other languages.

This simply means that: Regardless of wherever you are, you can get a job working as an online medical transcription from home.

What it means for you?

Your proficiency in two or more language increases your chances of earning big when it comes to med transcriptions.

You can opt to work as a medical transcriptionist on a part-time or full-time basis (depending on you and the job requirements).

Please note: There are certain skills that you must meet to qualify. As a matter of fact, these skills will largely ensure you are successful in your health field. They are discussed below:

Skills vital to become medical transcriptionist

There are some essential skills to become a successful online medical transcriptionist. These include:

Formal education certificate (with requirement of at least you acquire a High school certificate with good marks).

Have total control of the English language or the target language.

Your ability to identify and understand the varieties of the English language.

Some experience using some Microsoft office software’s and a computer.

Good typing skills with accuracy, speed and effective time delivery.

Your improved ability to work under pressure in short durations.

The secondary skills that will set you apart from the crowd include:

Your fluency and control of other languages.

Your possession of adequate knowledge about the world of medical practices and medicine.

Your calmness when it comes to listening.

Your curiosity to catch every detail necessary.

Your exhibition of a high level of patience.

It gets better:

If by chance you are a science student, working or retired medical practitioner, doctor, nurse or a paramedical staff, online medical transcription jobs provide a simple yet interesting source of extra income.

Types of online medical transcriptions

In general, the field of internet medical transcriptions can be divided into four types. We will walk you through each and every one of them so that you can decide for yourself which one is best for you.

The Secret of Medical Transcription Jobs-How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist

Average salary is usually from: US$ 35,000 to US$ 50,000 per year.

Getting a job as general online medical transcriptions is the easiest thing you can do online. This is because there is always a pile of huge data that needs to be converted from voice notes to legible transcripts.

The big number of large hospitals all across the world who employ millions or thousands of surgeons, general practitioners, medical doctors, specialists and support staff find it very difficult to hire transcriptionists for this very tasking job. So, they need to outsource this set of job to bodies that offer medical transcriptions.

General online medical transcription (GOM) jobs require you to listen to the audio file provided by a hospital, a doctor or clinic. This audio data will often contain a conversation between the patient and physician, details about the set of instructions to the patient, diagnosis and support staff like nurse or a secretary.

The raw data that you will need to sort will be provided to you through one or more specialized transcription software. Attached to it will be a deadline for submitting the online medical transcription.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES/ EMERGENCY ROOM TRANSCRIPTION

The average salary ranges from: US$ 20.000 to US$35,000 per year

Professionals in the field of Emergency Room (ER) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) also require the quality services of a good online medical transcription. This task is majorly done through EMS providers who outsource for them.

Emergency Medical Service providers are often organizations or companies who provide ambulances. To maintain quality control and to provide data to hospitals and ERs in the best way possible, the services of an expert online med transcriptionist is required. Also, the viral rise in the use of air ambulances that evacuate patients with helicopters- also led to the growth of money making ventures online.

It is a well-known fact that ambulances are only used for medical emergencies and so, every minute counts. Because of this, the dependence on online medical transcriptions for ER services and EMS is super high.

If you work as an EMS/ ER medical transcriptionist, you will be provided with raw audio data. It usually consists of recordings of calls made to the EMS, conversations that occurs between the ambulance pilot or driver and a few paramedics on board, conversations between the paramedics with people close by the victim at the time of emergency or relatives, a set of instructions and live recordings made by the paramedics on duty as regards the treatment and condition of the patient, till the time the case reaches an ER.

The data is usually made up of recordings made by medical staff receiving the victim and Emergency Room procedures followed to save a life or lives.

It is very important for you to know beforehand, that ER/EMS data can be go from simple to complex since it deals with emergency cases. Hence, the given instructions would usually be said in rushed high pitched tones.

Lastly, you can be provided with rather short deadlines to transcript the raw data, due to the critical condition or stage of the victim or emergency.

MEDICO-LEGAL TRANSCRIPTION

Average salary often ranges from: US$ 35,000 to US$ 50,000 per month.

In recent years, online medico-legal transcriptions are a fast rising trend. They play an important role in the field of online medical transcription, but are quite distinct from the other types of transcription jobs we have mentioned earlier.

Now, several healthcare providers and hospitals, EMS/ER services and attorneys require the services of medico-legal transcriptions. They serve several purposes:

To confirm if a doctor or a hospital is solely responsible for any wrong medical treatment given administered to emergency or regular patient.

To provide a helping hand in cases of child abuse.

For discovering the psychology or mental conditions of patients involved in different crimes.

To become a medical examiner member in cases of pedophilic abuse or rape.

To assist in solving cases of miscarriages suspected as abortions, especially in countries or cities where such a practice is banned.

To examine medically cases such as wounds sustained as result of a fight that may have a negative implication or implications with law and order.

To ascertain facts in divorce cases where one spouse accuses the other of some addiction related problem or psychiatric condition.

Medico-legal transcriptions are certainly not needed in every case. However, for cases where the service of a medico-legal transcriptionist is not needed, there is one more specialized branch of online medical transcription which we shall discuss below…

FORENSIC MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION

The average salary ranges from: US$ 180,000 to US$ 250,000

Of all transcription jobs we have discussed so far, this is by far the most specialized field of medical transcriptions and online job available. However, to find this kind of job is almost impossible (very hard). There is a trick to getting it faster though; you will have to work for some online medical transcription company that provides other bodies such service.

Forensic medical transcription(FMT) often involves you listen to observations made by law enforcement agencies or the police who respond to different crimes such as domestic violence, rape, murder, or other acts of violence or similar ones that involves medics.

As you work as a FMT, you will listen to a lot of testimonies made by victims of various crimes such as nasty abuse, rape and violence etc., saved recordings made by series of pathologists who at one point in time are conducting an autopsy and physicians attending to victims of crimes.

Want to know the best part?

Because of I’s inherent nature, this is the highest paid job in the category of online medical transcription. This is why these transcriptions have to be done by medical experts who are well versed with the country laws and understand to a certain level the significance of findings by pathologists.

But…

There is a wrong notion as regards online medical transcriptions; most people believe that these jobs are boring and complex. Reverse is usually the case, as they can be quite interesting and easy, provided you utilize the right set of software and hardware at your office or home.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

A powerful laptop or desktop that is of god quality. Specifically, PCs or laptops with great sound cards are considered an asset in this line of work.

Microphone and headsets of super high quality.

A printer that prints well.

A DVD writer.

A Joystick or foot pedal to pause the recordings (optional).

You can easily get all of these hardware at affordable prices at online stores such as Amazon

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

The software you will use is usually provided by the company, clinic or hospital that hires you for your online medical transcription job. This might not be so in the case of a freelancer, no need to fear or be discouraged; you can simply download any free or paid medical transcription software.

There exists some really cool websites with good review that offer you a such software complete with free, trial and paid version downloads.

You will also require client management software and a free billing and a working PayPal account for clients to pay your charges into in exchange for your services.

Now that you possess the right set of hardware and software, you are all set. So what are you waiting for?

One of the easiest and fastest means to get online medical transcription jobs is to post online your resume on any reputed job website that recognizes your country. A large number of medical transcription jobs providers are always on lookout for new recruits.

If you feel registering on websites is too much of a step to you, you can approach some reputable clinics or hospitals, government, federal or state law enforcement agencies in your country. It will interest you to know that the armed forces of the country where you reside are on the lookout for online medical transcriptionists.

It doesn’t matter if you work on a part-time or full-time basis, one thing is certain: online medical transcription jobs are a sure way to earn some extra cash each week!